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Hive World Gear
In addition to arms and armour, the following items are particular to hive worlds, being used by indigenous populations to survive in the often harsh environment of the sprawling hives. Hive World Gear Axe-Rake:'''A heavy multi-purpose tool, common to hive smelteries, foundries and work crews. The axe-rake is taken almost universally to symbolise labour and the manual workforce of the hive in the Calixis Sector. The axe-rake is frequently rendered as an icon both in industrial architecture and guild livery on most hive worlds. The genuine article can also make for a handy weapon in skilled hands. The axe-rake grants a +10 bonus to Climb Tests, as well as on Tests made to force doors or locks open. It can also be used as a melee weapon, dealing 1d10+2 I or R Damage with the Primitive and Unbalanced qualities. '''Cognomen: “Cognomen” is the official Administratum designation in the Calixis Sector for a hiver’s identity card. In a hive, it is one of the only viable means of tracking, taxing and identifying the citizenry. Cognomen are usually blank iron-grey, punched-metal squares (about the size and shape of a playing card) and designed to be read by data-slates and cogitator systems. The only feature on the face of a Cognomen is the symbol of the issuing hive, guild or Adepta whom the citizen serves. In some ways, ownership of a cognomen is frighteningly important: it represents the only legal proof of identity, a right to work and even to be fed and housed for the average mid-hiver. Its loss might genuinely mean starvation, abandonment, arrest or even being cast down into the underhive in the blind face of Imperial bureaucracy. There is, of course, a thriving trade in the theft and falsification of cognomen, the price for a “face” varies on the identity fabricated or stolen, and can range from a few gelt to thousands. Forgery Kit: This represents a catch-all category of tools and materials, from special parchment inks to task-dedicated codifiers intended to help the user forge or duplicate official documents, cognomen, passes and permits. Using this kit in conjunction with the relevant Skill (Trade (Copyist) or Tech-Use) grants a bonus to copy, forge or fabricate such items, depending on the quality of the materials involved and the difficulty of the task. The price shown is for a common quality kit that provides a +10 bonus. A Good Quality kit gives a +20 bonus, while a Best Quality kit provides a +30. Heretic's Wake Deck: In the centuries since the sector’s founding, the Ministorum has been unstinting in their efforts to stamp-out the game of “Heretic’s Wake”, but with little success. The game is played with a deck of cards made from a twisted and debased version of the Emperor’s Tarot and to possess a set is a crime punishable by “having one’s fingers dipped in molten gold”—for the blasphemy of holding such lies and creations of wickedness. The images on each card are rumoured to have been designed by the heretic illuminator, Cassilda, and it is said that if the cards are drawn in a certain pattern, the player will find themselves granted a vision of a far greater game, or perhaps simply go mad. The potential consequences have not prevented Heretics’ Wake from spreading throughout the sector to the point where a game can be found in almost every dark recess. Holo-Wafer: Intended as fealty-badges, bargaining chips or signal-markers, holo wafers are small ceramic discs, each about as thick as a coin and no wider than a palm. Each is keyed to show a particular small holographic image when triggered. The devices have another, more sinister, use as so-called “death markers” or “kill claimers”. Holo wafers displaying images such as a winking skull, a weeping mother or a burning tower are de rigueur items in the Scintillian underworld, serving as “calling cards” for many assassins, gunsells and contracted blades who leave them on the corpses of their victims to enhance their mystique and their reputation. Mantle-Shrine:'''Common devotional items in the Calixis Sector, these small portable shrines take the form of a triptych wooden or flakboard box that can be closed into a case for carrying. Traditionally, mantle-shrines feature three hand-painted icons, the central being one of the aspects of the God-Emperor and at his right hand Saint Drusus, and at the left, an image or saint determined by the painter. The base unfolds to hold candles, an incense burner or a tack for votive papers. Most of these mantle-shrines are crafted in the pilgrim shantytowns of Hive Tarsus and exported by the Ecclesiarchy across the sector. One can find mantle-shrines even in the homes of the very poor on many worlds—indeed families often club together to buy them as wedding gifts. Many hive scummers, intent on robbery, also know that a locked mantle shrine is a favoured hiding place for many a poor stack-family’s few coins, if they dare desecrate it. '''Ocular Catachizer: A device favoured by ranking adepts, sages and Administratum officials, these arcane and intricate-looking eyepieces are designed to magnify objects and help identify and analyse visual patterns and data. They are somewhat temperamental instruments, requiring stillness and concentration to use; their machine-spirits are notoriously easily vexed, much to the pain of the operator. Using these devices gains a character a +10 bonus on Literacy, Lore and Search Tests where the close examination of objects, symbols and deciphering written text is involved. Other Actions cannot be attempted while using an ocular, and if a failure by four or more degrees is rolled on a Test involving the device, feedback through the eyepiece inflicts 1 level of Fatigue on the user. The eyepiece can also record its impressions to an attached data-slate for later study. Penthrift Dreadfuls: The “penthrift dreadful” is a Calixian slang name for a small, cheaply printed pamphlet containing lurid stories of sordid murders, gang violence, fanciful tales of xenos atrocities and other strange occurrences, all couched in the form of morality tales or scaremongering religious tracts in order to evade censorship by the authorities. A popular, slightly licentious pleasure in the mid-hives, these publications are generally allowed to continue by the powers-that-be as they serve to reinforce the justly held fears and hatreds of the population, although, the Holy Ordos often keep a weather eye on their contents, just to ensure that no dangerous “truths” slip through amid the purple prose. Salvation Auger: About the size of a pocket chrono, the salvation auger is designed to detect the presence of harmful radiation, airborne toxins and pollutants. These devices are common on most hive worlds, particularly for up-hivers venturing into the depths. Augers alert the wearer when danger is encountered, coming in a variety of patterns and makes, varying from ornate hololithic dials to utilitarian lapel-boxes that shriek alarms when triggered. Basic models do nothing more than signal danger, while the better models can be read with a Ordinary (+10) Tech-Use Test to determine the exact nature of the hazard. Gloom Eyes: In the deepest regions of Volg, where light of any form rarely penetrates, the dripping, polluted waste occasionally forms strange amber-like deposits. Globular and glassy, these forms often glow with a strange luminescence that slowly changes and shifts in shade and colour. Rounded lumps, hacked from these deposits, are known as “gloom eyes” and are often carried bound into thongs around the necks of Volg gangers or mirk-stalkers as a form of charm. Though the light they shed is useful, the bearers of these curious objects believe that the eye’s glow changes to warn them of danger. Whether true or not, you need any edge you can get if you live in Volg and the belief is widely held. These items count as a superior charm (see page 146 in Dark Heresy) and they also shed light equivalent to that of a candle when uncovered. Characters from Volg that wear this charm gain a +10 bonus on Tests made to avoiding Pinning. Vox-Phonograph: A domestic toy of the wealthy, phonographs are bulky table-piece devices of clockwork-cogs, switches, vox-grills, sounding horns and lens-projectors, built to play music or provide flickering holo-lantern shows. The usual fare for a vox-phonograph is orchestral symphonies, inspirational Ecclesiarchy sermons, issued guild reports and pict-slides, each recorded on a micro-etched metal cylinder which plugs into the machine’s loom to be played. Better models (twice the listed price) may record cylinders of their own and play media from other sources such as data-slates. Sadly such entertainment is well beyond the price of the masses in most hives. Vox-Thief: This complex device of the Omnissiah’s arts is designed to pick up, store and analyse both vox and data transmissions in the surrounding area. They can either be used by an operator or can be covertly hidden to record in a particular area. Using a vox-thief ’s basic functions requires a successful Difficult (–10) Tech-Use Test and may be made considerably harder by the nature of the task. Additionally, heavily encrypted signals need further analysis to break their code. Short-range vox-thieves are the size of a data-slate and have a range of about two to three kilometres, while long-range models are larger units, containing a powerful in-built cogitator and are comparable to military vox-casters in size (a large backpack), with a range of up to 50 kilometres. In both cases, this range can be reduced dramatically by local conditions. Ward Accessor: Although often ritualised and little understood by most who use them, ward accessors are electronic passes that allow access to certain areas that are otherwise restricted. Such security measures are commonplace in hive cities where individual citizens and workers usually find certain places off-limits. Individual accessors vary widely in appearance, from simple cards to holo-coins, badges of office or even great seals, depending on just where the security is located and what is being guarded. The cost listed here is for a “blank” accessor (a potentially dubious but not illegal item) ready to be programmed with a code. Category:Gear